Snooker great Stephen Hendry hit a maximum 147 snooker break in his World Championship quarter-final clash with Shaun Murphy.

The seven-time champion looks set to pick up a cool £157,000 for the highest break of the tournament.

“It’s a tremendous feeling and I’m absolutely delighted” said the Scot after taking a 5-3 lead over former world champion Murphy.

Neil Robertson defeated last year’s finalist Ali Carter’s 13-8 at the Crucible earlier today in impressive fashion to set up a clash with Stephen Maguire next. Left-hander Robertson, from Melbourne, developed a 9-7 lead after pinching four of Sunday’s final five frames on the black, and the 27-year-old was in no mood to permit a Carter comeback.

Former champion Shaun Murphy shrugged off his off-table issues to seal a crushing 13-3 second-round win over Marco Fu at The Crucible. Murphy, who resumed with the luxury of a 7-1 lead, was in complete control against an outgunned Fu, and sealed victory with a session to spare. Fu started superbly with a 129 break, but Murphy replied with a century of his own to reassert his authority. And it was almost one-way traffic from then on, as Murphy sealed victory.

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen caused the shock of the World Snooker Championships so far by knocking out defending champion and world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The world number 16 produced some high quality snooker to turn around a 9-7 overnight deficit and win 13-11.

John Higgins stormed back from 12-10 down to defeat Jamie Cope and reach the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals.

The two-time champion began the day all square, with the world number 19, at 8-8, but he was unable to find any rythmn on the green baize.

It was instead the attack-minded Cope who looked certain to progress when a superb break of 103 left him on the brink and needing just one more solitary frame to triumph.

Six times world snooker champion Steve Davis was thrashed 10-2 by Neil Robertson in the first round of the World Snooker Championship, but will he be back again?

The ‘Nuggets’ inability to score heavily when given the opportunity proved costly against a clinical Robertson who simply outplayed the snooker legend from the opening frame of the match.

Davis faces the daunting prospect of going through qualifying again next year, as he remains outside the world’s top 16. However, the prospect of doing is one that doesn’t seem to phase him.

China’s Ding Junhui survived a spirited fightback from compatriot Liang Wenbo to run out a 10-8 winner at the Crucible earlier today.

Ding, the world number 11, went into the last session with a 5-4 lead which was extended to 7-4 with runs of 58 and 72.

But qualifier Liang hit back to win the next four frames with Ding failing to pot a single ball for over an hour.

However, nerves started to get the better of Liang and Ding fired in 111, 91 and 63 to clinch the match.

Mark Selby overcome his good friend Ricky Walden 10-6 this afternoon to book a second round clash against Graeme Dott at the World Snooker Championship next.

The ‘Jester from Leicester’ was dumped out by Mark King at the same stage last year, but 12 months on he looked a class act against an opponent who many tipped to cause a shock at Sheffield.

Selby said “If you do go out in the first round, going back home and watching it on TV really hurts you. Last year really did hurt me.”